China Telecom first-half net profit falls 8.3%

PaulMozur

BEIJING--China Telecom Corp.
CHA, +0.16%
said Wednesday its first-half net profit fell 8.3% due to increasing competition and the growing use of smartphones, which cuts back on traditional voice and text message services.

China's largest fixed-line operator by subscribers said its net profit for the six months ended June 30 was 8.81 billion yuan ($1.39 billion), down from CNY9.62 billion a year earlier.

The result was better than the average CNY7.72 billion forecast of 32 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue rose 14.8% to CNY138.02 billion from CNY120.22 billion, better than the average CNY134.66 billion forecast in the poll.

China Telecom also announced that it would acquire code division multiple access network assets from its parent company for CNY84.6 billion, a price lower than that expected by the market. China Telecom said the acquisition would improve its profitability and flexibility as it builds up its wireless network infrastructure.

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